[Plplot-general] Re: Plplot Digest

[Cliff Y <smu...@ya...>]

>> 3. One of the items mentioned in the "Remaining 
>> Important Bugs" section of the new version 
>> announcement has to do with the 3D shading. While 
>> searching for more information on the subject I
came 
>> accross Generic Mapping Tools 
>> (http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/gmt.html). It's a GPL 
>> application which produces shaded plots (among
other 
>> types) from data sets and outputs EPS files. The 
>> website includes some very impressive examples. 
>> Maybe the 3D shading portion of the code could be 
>> adapted to PLplot.

> We can't pull GPL code directly into the LGPL PLplot

> without losing the leading L.  For things like this,

> we really need to start with mathematics, and code 
> from there.  Again, this is a project where there is

> no one currently signed up, I think, so submissions 
> would be welcome.   (Of course looking at what other

> packages have is fine, I think, but we just can't 
> directly leverage GPL code without a license 
> brouhaha).

Makes sense.  Would it be worthwhile to contact the
developers and ask them if they would be willing to
make available the specific parts plplot would be
interested in under the lgpl?  If they are releasing
it under gpl they must be into the free software
thing, and they may be accomidating if they know it
will be used to make plplot better.

While we're on this, would using vtk to handle output
for this type of thing be a good idea?  Postscript is
good but it has its limits, particularly in
interactive 3D stuff, which might be possible more or
less automatically in vtk.  

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